The Games Tested

• OpenAL doesn't appear to support in-game LFE mixing. OpenAL can send audio to the LFE if it is being fed an audio file (WAV/OGG) with a discrete channel layout containing a design an LFE channel but I've never played an OpenAL game that output audio to the LFE. I've noticed that some APIs, such as Miles Sound System, appear to utilize OpenAL and have LFE output, but games that use a straight OpenAL implementation don't appear to use the LFE at all. I assume that Miles simply receives the audio from OpenAL and then uses their own resources to mix the audio to the appropriate channels.
• Miles Sound System (often used in Valve's Source engine games) appears to sit on top of OpenAL or DirectSound. In Windows, or at least for Source games, it appears to be routing through DirectSound, so adding Source games to ALchemy gets your 7.0 functionality in Vista/7 where as you would only get 5.0 sound without ALchemy. In Linux, Miles appears to route through OpenAL. To get 7-channel surround in Windows Source engine games, first add the game to ALchemy, then run the game and open the console and type: "snd_legacy_surround 1" without the quotes and hit Enter to input the command. Restart the game and it should now be properly outputting to 7 speakers. For whatever reason, Source engine (Miles) 7.1 doesn't work properly without ALchemy.
• Implementation of the LFE channel seems to be often overlooked which could be a result of how their test equipment is setup. While direct analog connections don't redirect bass unless the source says to do so (this varies by AV receiver), HDMI connections may redirect the bass at the destination/receiver. If a game is being tested through an HDMI-connected system, bass may be automatically directed to the subwoofer.
• After discussing the issue with different people, I've found that lack of support for certain speaker configurations may be a result of programmers not thoroughly implementing the features and development studios only having 5.1 setups to test on.
• Wwise initially only supported up to a 5.1 speaker configuration. As of 7 October 2013, Wwise supports 7.1 audio. Thief (2014) may have been the first Wwise game to support 7.1 output. Outlast was initially 5.0 and later updated to the newer version of Wwise and now supports 7.0 output.
• After it having been brought to my attention that Dishonored seemed to be missing audio in the center channel, I've noticed a trend with Wwise-based games missing audio from the center channel. Most voices and sound effects will be absent from the center channel while something like the player's voice and sound effects may come through.
• Games using Unreal Engine 3 and 4 combined with XAudio2 fail to output to the LFE channel when outputting to a 7.1 speaker configuration. I discovered this while testing the 2014/2015 Unreal Tournament pre-alpha and switching between speaker configurations to test a problem with the game's audio output. Curious, I switched to 5.1 output in Windows and tested a number of games that use UE3 and XAudio2 (Bulletstorm, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Killer is Dead, Deadlight) and found that when Windows was set to 5.1, these games output to the subwoofer while they lack subwoofer output when speaker config is set to 7.1. I also tested other XAudio2 games that weren't using Unreal Engine and found that this didn't affect those games.

• "LFE mixing is done very well" If I made a positive comment about the LFE, it means I thought that it was well-balanced and used appropriately. I understand that volume adjustments on my end can make this judgement unreliable but I feel confident that my subwoofer volume is reasonably set. Some game just seem to have better mixing and it's recognizable; Alan Wake and Crysis 2 & 3 are good examples of games with kickin' audio.
• Crysis 2 and 3 have very impressive audio implementation. I'm not talking about the music composition or types of sound effects used, I'm talking about how well the sound effects and environmental effects were placed into the game world and how well the audio seems to have been mastered. Sound effects properly fade out when you move away from their origin (no sudden silence), the LFE channel is properly used and is just the right volume, and none of the audio is distorted or too loud (TOO COMPRESSED). You can crank the volume on this game and your speakers won't sound like they're in pain due to the audio being overly compressed, it'll be loud but smooth. Whoever was responsible for the audio in these games deserves a medal.
• Dead Island has a bug that prevents the game from working properly with 7.1 configurations, the only solution is to change your speaker configuration to 5.1 or lower. You could also restart the game repeatedly until it works correctly. This issue was present in Riptide, but they corrected it.
• *FIXED DURING GFWL->STEAMWORKS CONVERSION* Dead Rising 2 games have a bug that prevent them from starting if your audio device is set to operate at greater than 48kHz. Set your playback device to 48kHz or lower to get the game to run.
• Dead Space games appear to use a proprietary audio engine developed by EA (or Phenomic?), RwAudioCore. This particular audio engine appears to have various features such as 7.1 (and LFE) but they weren't used. I'd say it's worth it to use bass re-direction for DS 1 and 2 because there are many sound effects that mix in good to the sub and add to the intensity of the audio. Looks like as of Battlefield 4 they're calling it "EAAudioCore".
• Dishonored is technically 5.1, it outputs audio to all speakers in a 5.1 configuration, but it only outputs some low volume effects to the center channel. Character voices, gunfire, and footsteps that would be played in the center channel are played in the two front speakers, it's essentially a 4.1 game that plays auxiliary effects in the center speaker. This issue also appears present in the Xbox 360 version.
• DOOM 3 was originally a DirectSound game but a later patch (version 1.3?) added OpenAL and EAX HD support. DOOM 3 defaults to OpenAL unless you don't have OpenAL installed on your system, then it falls back to using DirectSound.
• Gears of War initially had some strange issues for me, such as the side surround speakers not working properly. WarEngine.ini seems to indicate that it's an OpenAL game, but if I use ALchemy, which puts its own DSOUND.DLL file in the game directory, the game won't load because it doesn't like the DSOUND.DLL file. While the game appears to be using OpenAL, I believe that in the end it's routing through DirectSound. I've removed any OpenAL-related files from the BINARIES directory and while the INI updates OpenAL parameters, it still wants to talk to DSOUND.DLL.
• Hotline Miami was originally a DirectSound game with 2.0 output but was later migrated to OpenAL. The move to OpenAL was probably because they ported the game to other platforms (OSX, Linux, PS3, Vita) and OpenAL was the better choice for portability. While it does playback audio in 7-channel surround, there doesn't seem to be any particular method for sound placement. The music is in the front two speakers, certain sound effects play strictly in the side speakers and others play strictly in the rear speakers.
• Mirror's Edge seems to be slightly buggy as far as hardware detection goes. In the game's audio options, select Hardware for the audio device. Exit the game and then navigate to the TdEngine.ini file located in Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge\TdGame\Config. You'll find "DeviceName=" under the ALAudio.ALAudioDevice section. Delete any text after "DeviceName=" and it should then properly output in 7-channel surround. This actually seems to be common with some Unreal Engine games that use OpenAL.
• Outlast seems to have been updated to the latest Wwise release, likely with the 30 April 2014 update. I'm certain that it initially only output 5.0 but as of 5 May 2014 (when I last played with it) it outputs at least 7.0.
• Resident Evil 4, the 2014 PC re-release, has very poorly-implemented surround sound. The 2014 PC release was based on the Xbox 360 HD release; the audio on the 360 and PS3 versions was broken, as in, all sound effects were mono. This carried over to the PC version, the community complained and Capcom(QLOC) attempted to fix it but they only did so much. Some sound effects will pan around but most are still mono.
• Serious Sam 3 can be configured to use several different audio APIs in its configuration file; I'd recommend sticking with XAudio2. Also, the LFE volume in this game is disgustingly loud compared to anything else I've played.
• Unreal Engine 2.5 games (Example: UT2004, Killing Floor) typically have an audio option to use the 'system driver'. If you uncheck this box, the game is supposed to use its own OpenAL driver which should be the most compatible solution; theoretically, it should be able to provide environmental effects and surround sound through OpenAL. I've found that if I check the 'system driver' box (and restart the game) that I lose surround sound and EAX effects, but if I then use ALchemy, surround sound and EAX are restored (with "H/W 3D + EAX" selected); this basically means that the game is then using DirectSound instead of OpenAL. As for UT2004, when using the game's OpenAL driver, there were some issues with sound effects not playing and the EAX effects were either very dull or weren't functioning. I felt like the audio experience was much better using 'system driver' and ALchemy together. Results may vary so test on your own system and find what works best for you. Also, if you have an X-Fi card that likes to BSOD with OpenAL games, using 'system driver' with ALchemy can resolve that problem; that's how I have to play Killing Floor.
• Unreal Tournament '99 has community-created sound drivers that use OpenAL and FMOD. The OpenAL driver brings some modernization to UT99 in the form of HRTF for headphone users and can also emulate environmental reverb effects. Follow this link to find the latest version of the OpenAL driver. If you're content using the original Galaxy 3D Audio driver and have an EAX-compatible sound device (which will require ALchemy or the like on new OSes), I'd recommend installing the Creative EAX patches as they balance out some of the reverb used and add new effects.

I disable bass re-direction solely for the purpose of properly detecting if a game discretely uses the LFE channel. If you have an all-in-on computer speaker setup then its control module likely already enforces bass management, but if you've built your speaker system from various components then you likely have more control over at least one crossover. For a consistent audio experience, I recommend enabling bass re-direction and then properly adjusting any crossovers and the subwoofer volume level so that your speakers and subwoofer blend with one another. I'll cover this briefly on my Audio Setup page.

My process for finding which API is used typically begins with me looking in the game's directory for specific DLL files, looking for specific logos during the game's splash screens, opening the executable file in a text editor and searching specific terms, or browsing configuration files.

• DirectSound games often have a reference to DSOUND.DLL in the game's executable. If the game supports something like EAX, there may also be EAX.DLL in the game's directory.
• XAudio2 games often have references to various 'xaudio2' functions in the game's executable. In Unreal Engine games, you may find references to XAudio2 in the game's *engine.ini file.
• FMOD games typically have fmod_event.dll or fmodex.dll files in the game directory. If those aren't present, I check configuration and log files and then go to the executable and search for 'fmod'. The FMOD logo may also be in splash screens.
• Wwise games often have the Wwise logo in the splash screen. Wwise doesn't typically leave much evidence in the game's executable or in configuration files but may be found in logs and also check the file extensions on the sound and music banks to see if they're related to Wwise.
• OpenAL games always seem to have OpenAL32.DLL in the game directory. Unreal Engine games may also reference OpenAL in the *engine.ini file.
• Miles Sound System games sometimes have mss32.dll in the game directory. Sometimes they have no DLLs or indication in the game executable but may find "Miles Sound System" or RAD Game Tools references in splash screens or documentation.
• I found the information for Electronic Arts' 'audio core' API by digging through EA game executables. If it's not obvious which API an EA game uses, I typically first search the executable for 'audiocore'.